How James Van Der Beek Stole Brad Pitt’s Style

In a new interview with The Daily Beast, former Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek talks about how he acquired his character’s signature season one look — on the night he auditioned for (and landed) the coveted role.

“I was rocking the pubescent Jesus look at the time,” the actor says, referencing his long hair and hemp necklaces. So during a late-night trip to the barbershop, “we started looking through Entertainment Weekly, which was on the counter,” Van Der Beek explains. “We found an ad for The Devil’s Own, the movie with Brad Pitt. [The crew] said, ‘What about Brad Pitt’s haircut?’ And that’s how I got my season one haircut.”

Van Der Beek — who returns to television Wednesday night playing an exaggerated version of his teen-idol self on ABC’s new sitcom Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 – says that he tried to escape Dawson for a long time, before finally deciding to embrace his past. “I grew up and came to the conclusion that life is a lot more fun when you don’t take yourself so seriously,” he says.

But surprisingly, wife Kimberly, whom he married in 2010, had never seen the show. So Van Der Beek’s mom “walked in a room with a computer playing the pilot and put it in front of her” not too long ago, he recalls.

Her response? “She said, ‘That is not my husband. Who is that little boy?’” the actor says, laughing. But it was no joke: she never watched another episode.